Batter maxEV Gainers — Apr 7, 2026

Since we remain in tiny sample size territory, I’m still hesitant to perform a deep dive into any batter metrics. However, there’s one metric that could be worth reviewing almost immediately — maxEV. At this point, we don’t care about the decliners and probably won’t until the end of the season. Batters have all season to post their peak velocity marks. What we are interested in are those batters who have already increased their maxEV marks compared to last season. If you’ve already recorded a higher maxEV this year over just 5%-7% the number of events than last year, that could be meaningful.

Last year, out of the top 50 maxEV gainers with at least 300 PAs that recorded increases of at least 1.5 MPH, 29 (58%) of them also raised their HR/FB rates. The entire sample size was 199 batters and only 98 raised their HR/FB rates, a 49% rate. One season pair comparison isn’t enough to conclude a whole lot, but certainly it follows that increasing your max is a sign of increased power.

So with that in mind, let’s review 18 batters that have increased their maxEV marks the most so far.

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Nick Loftin has shown more power in the minors than has translated to the Majors, so a full season could result in more home runs than expected. Alas, the playing time isn’t going to be there unless there’s injury.

This was simply a rebound for Christian Vázquez coming off the lowest maxEV of his career.

Can you believe that Austin Hays is 30 years old?! I still think of him as a young guy we’re awaiting a breakout on. His 111.9 MPH maxEV right now stands as the hardest hit ball he’s ever recorded in an MLB regular season. That’s a good sign who has shown middling power for years ever since his only .200 ISO campaign back in 2021. Nothing else is currently looking good, but the sample size is too small to worry about the tiny walk rate, elevated strikeout rate, and dearth of fly balls.

This is a nice jump for Angel Martínez, whose maxEV now exceeds everything he has done at Triple-A too, since we have those marks as well. He really hasn’t shown much power in the past, peaking at just a 12.8% HR/FB rate, so this is a welcome surge. Unfortunately, he doesn’t own a whole lot of speed, so at best he might be one of those “touch of everything” contributors if he keeps getting PAs. Problem is, that’s unlikely.

Like Vázquez above, Andrés Giménez only appears here because his maxEV fell to a career low last year. His mark now is more in line with historical seasons and not something to get excited about. Of course, he’s already homered twice thanks to a career high Barrel%, so we’ll see if that lasts.

Jac Caglianone made headlines when he posted huge EV marks during spring training, which almost certainly raised his draft cost, likely becoming the reason I own 0 shares. No, he hasn’t hit another 120 MPH ball, but he’s already up to an elite level. Oddly, even paired with his 10.5% Barrel%, he has yet to homer and sits here with a tiny .071 ISO. So far, he has traded fly balls for line drives, which has been great for his BABIP, but won’t be great for his home run potential. I remain optimistic here, though it’s kind of hilarious he’s projected for the third best wRC+ on the team, yet is stuck in the bottom half of the order.

Unlike other big speed guys, both in the past and present, David Hamilton actually owns some power. His 109.9 MPH ball this year is faster than anything he had done in the Majors previously, but falls short of the highest EV we have for him of 110.9 MPH back at Triple-A in 2023. This isn’t something to get too excited about though, as he’s all about the steals. What’s crazy though is his projections call for a mid-teen home run and 50ish steals if he played a full season on the strong side of a platoon. He might kill your average though and his RBI and runs scored numbers won’t be great at the bottom of the lineup.

Like some other names, Wilyer Abreu’s maxEV dipped last year, so this is merely a rebound. He’s still below his 2024 mark, but that’s fine, as both numbers are quite good. His batted ball profile is currently drool-worthy, with the fun combination of lots of line drives and fly balls. That’s good for home runs and the high LD% also boosts his BABIP, so it’s a rare profile that’s good for power and not also bad for BABIP. Let’s see how long he could keep this up.

Amazingly, Rhys Hoskins has already hit the hardest ball of his MLB career. With such a weak offense, I don’t understand why the Guardians haven’t been playing him more consistently. Until and unless they do, he’s nothing more than AL-Only fodder.

Ernie Clement, contact extraordinaire, with power?! It hasn’t led to a homer yet, but his maxEV is now 0.3 MPH higher than it’s ever been. Perhaps he’s added enough oomph to post his first double digit HR/FB rate. If it doesn’t affect his strikeout rate, that could make him more appealing in fantasy leagues since he’s nearly an empty batting average now.

It’s a real surprise to me that Kerry Carpenter’s hardest hit ball before this season was just 109.6 MPH. I expected higher from a guy with a career 18.8% HR/FB rate and .238 ISO. I don’t think the added EV so far this year is going to make much of a difference since he’s always shown power even with a sub-110 MPH mark.

It’s fascinating that the Pirates now employ two former top prospects who have disappointed behind the plate in Henry Davis and Joey Bart. Davis has been the starter this year and despite above average maxEV numbers historically, he hasn’t shown any power. With his maxEV up again, will the power ever come? His home park caps the upside, but he seems like a good speculation as a second catcher in an NL-Only league.

Chase Meidroth’s maxEV is still a bit below the league average and he posted a mark of 108.1 MPH back in 2024, so this is nothing new. He’s similar to Clement in that he does a small about of everything without killing your average, but I think the upside is higher.

Were you sucked into the Matt McLain Spring Training power show? His performance made us believe he was now fully healthy and ready to regain his 2023 level. The highest maxEV we have recorded is a strong start, and his Barrel% is near elite, nearly double last year. But, it hasn’t resulted in a homer yet or any power at all. Oh, and his walk rate is way up and in double digits. Personally, I remain bullish and if his owners are losing faith, I would pounce. His .364 xwOBA hints at a turnaround real soon.